New Delhi, Leading News Service: After the recent elections for Rajya Sabha seats, party strength has changed and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the ruling BJP has reduced the number of members in the Rajya Sabha to 117. The total strength has come down from 245 to 240 as five seats are vacant in this Upper House of Parliament. So NDA is only four seats away from majority.
Biennial elections for a total of 56 Rajya Sabha seats were held recently. The tenure of 50 of these members will end on April 2 and six MPs will retire on April 3. Against this backdrop, elections were held on February 27 for these seats. In this election, candidates were elected unopposed in 41 seats including six seats in Maharashtra. But tight Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka and MLAs casting aside their party lines have changed the calculations in this House of Parliament. As a result of this cross-voting, the BJP won eight out of ten seats in Uttar Pradesh and the only seat in Himachal Pradesh. So, in Karnataka, Congress won three out of four seats, while BJP managed to win one seat. After this result, the ruling NDA's strength in the Rajya Sabha has reached 117.
In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, the majority figure is 123 and considering the NDA's 117 seats, the ruling alliance needs six more seats to achieve the majority figure. Meanwhile, as five Rajya Sabha seats are vacant, the effective strength of the House has come down to 240. Obviously, as the majority figure is 221 in this number, NDA is only four seats away from the majority as compared to NDA's 117 seats. The five vacant seats include four seats in President's Rule Jammu and Kashmir. There is also one vacancy among the MPs appointed by the President.
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